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Simon Fagan is something of a thief. In the nearly 15 years since he became a full-time instructor, the pro trainer has taken literally thousands of strokes off his clients' golf games. In return, he leaves folks with improved driving distance and short game accuracy. His secret is the next level coaching approach, designed to put students in control of their own progress.
It starts with an assessment that pinpoints your game's strengths and weaknesses. From there, Simon helps folks develop a personalized practice routine, complete with one-on-one lessons and online assistance. He also hits the links with folks during 9- and 18-hole playing lessons, where he demonstrates how to react to on-course scenarios or use a lasso to wrangle stray golf carts.

Even though they're officially running toward a finish line 5 kilometers away, you can tell participants in the Rave Run are actually headed to a pretty trippy party. Bedecked in glow-in-the-dark clothing and glow bands and sticks and holding flashlights, headlights, and other forms of lighting, they take off from the starting line and speed into the night. Since runners don't need to program a rooster to wake them up at 5 a.m., they tend to be well rested, which means they have plenty of energy left after the race to enjoy the postrace shindig that goes all through the night.

Thomas Volmer credits his wife, Rachel, for inspiring them to start helming boot camps. She wasn’t always a fitness guru, though. "She was a commercial banker and she was 70 pounds overweight," Volmer recalls. Once she started to reclaim her life, "she just fell in love with fitness," he says. She eventually dropped 80 pounds with proper exercise and nutrition, spurring her to earn her AFAA personal training certification and pursue a career as a full-time trainer.
Personal experience lends Rachel and the other trainers—including Sharon Monk, who lost more than 200 pounds by exercising and eating healthily—empathy and a motivating demeanor when working with campers. At each location, they get groups doing pushups, swinging kettlebells, and flipping tires in a positive environment that's focused on teamwork, rather than competition. "You start as a group, you finish as a group," says Thomas. "But the activities that you do in between might be different based on your abilities."
In addition to leading sessions, Rachel creates easy-to-use online meal plans (including a vegetarian plan), which campers can customize to help them stay on track. Options range from the simple, such as cereal with fruits, nuts, and flaxseeds, to the creative, including honey-sweetened oatmeal peanut-butter cookies. She also includes the calorie count for each recipe. Users can pick from simple meals made for one person or larger entrees designed with an entire family or pet elephant in mind.

While attending Austin College, two important things happened to Kirby and Kristi Carmichael: they fell in love with art, and with each other. When Kirby moved to Italy after graduation to expand his pottery education, Kristi followed. During that time, she discovered she had a knack for majolica painting––a craft that Renaissance-era artists used to decorate vases, jars, and plates, all of which Leonardo da Vinci invented. The couple realized they had a sturdy link between their talents, and eventually returned to the United States jobless, engaged, and ready to share what they'd learned.
In October 2005, the Carmichaels opened Quiggly's Clayhouse, where potters and painters alike have since been crafting masterpieces and sharpening their skills with lessons. The studio's flexible walk-in availability encourages artists to visit whenever inspiration strikes—be it for painting pottery, sculpting clay, fusing glass, or forging mosaics. Frequent themed events also bring groups together in the name of casual creativity, including adult wheel nights, ladies’ nights, and kids’ nights.

Owner and educator Rashida Hobbs has always had a passion for music and dance, leading her to open Pole'iticians Fitness Studio, where she and a troupe of certified instructors create a supportive setting for ladies to build strength through sensual dance classes and workshops. Invented by Hobbs, Floormotion classes, also known as Sensual Dance, focus on the art of erotic movements, building on the principles of cardio striptease to transform students' regular dance moves into sexy shimmies. Pole-dance classes impart students of all skill levels with erotic moves to add to their exotic bag of tricks, enhancing the quality of future routines performed for a significant other, in front of the mirror, or during awkward silences in idle conversations. The Pole'iticians team also leads a breadth of Zumba, dance, and yoga classes, and opens the spacious studio for private parties and special events.

The certified instructors at CrazyScuba.com keep underwater expeditions equipped and entertained with top-notch equipment, diving instruction, and exotic travel packages. They help fledgling divers to find their sea fins during classes that include basic and advanced open-water scuba certification and instruction in specialized areas such as night diving, wreck diving, and rescue diving.
Guides also lead adventure dives to exotic worldly destinations, such as the Galapagos Islands, Cozumel, and Indonesia, organized and led by certified instructors who handle all reservations, bookings, and visa applications written in starfish. Whether exploring pools, lakes, or seas, divers stay safe and stylish with the shop’s selection of gear and equipment from trusted brands including Henderson, NeoSport, Mares, and ScubaPro.